Hummingbird Investigation

I had no idea that hummingbirds were so territorial!  This weekend I was cleaning up my onion and garlic harvest whilst sitting outside, and had the opportunity to get a glimpse of hummingbird society.

There is one hummingbird who “owns” the backyard. At least, he does now that I am keeping the feeder full and have a new feeder with perches.  A week after I put up the new one, I kept going outside to see what all the squeaking was about.

Mmmm, tasty.

The old hummingbird feeder was a gift I was very grateful for, but its plastic broke down in the sunlight and it was missing all its petals and perches. The new feeder (it's just from Target) is metal and glass, and has the added benefit of being easily cleaned because the whole bottom section comes apart.

 He has HUGE EYES, wow.

Anyway, this hummingbird will sit in a favorite place where he can keep an eye on the feeder and the rest of the backyard, wobbling and licking and constantly scanning for intruders. That favorite place is on the top of a tomato cage near the back door, so I have a pretty good view. I was surprised to find that he spends more time chasing off competitors than he does eating! Literally every minute, he is chasing someone else off into the neighbor's yards, and then he swoops back, takes a "victory sip" of nectar, and resumes his position. Any time spent not chasing is spent sitting and looking very drunk and very cute, or energetically squeaking.

Sunday I had the opportunity (and patience) to hide underneath his spot to sneak a video. It was actually difficult to take any at all, because I had to reach my arm very close and he doesn't like a lot of movement from the humans.

Our hummingbird is the fattest one of all. :)

Anybody know why hummingbirds look like they're experiencing vertigo when they sit down? Until someone enlightens me, I am going to assume it's just because they're so high-energy they can't be still.

Here is the recipe I use for the feeder: ½C sugar, 2 cups water.

I refrigerate the leftovers in a mason jar for a week or two... the new feeder isn't drippy, so the nectar lasts a lot longer. I rinse the feeder with white vinegar between uses to get rid of any mold spores... the feeder isn't dishwasher-safe which would be nice, but I hear you're not supposed to use any soap in there anyway.

Do you have a hummingbird feeder in your backyard?